It has long been known to use connectors to terminate coaxial cable so as to connect a cable to various electronic devices such as televisions, radios and the like.
Conventional coaxial cables typically include a center conductor surrounded by an insulator. A conductive foil is disposed over the insulator and a braided conductive shield surrounds the foil covered insulator. An outer insulative jacket surrounds the shield. In order to prepare the coaxial cable for termination, the outer jacket is stripped back exposing an extent of the braided conductive shield which is folded back over the jacket. A portion of the insulator covered by the conductive foil extends outwardly from the jacket and an extent of the center conductor extends outwardly from within the insulator. Such a prepared cable may be terminated in a conventional coaxial connector.
Prior art coaxial connectors generally include a connector body having an annular collar for accommodating a coaxial cable, an annular nut rotatably coupled to the collar for providing mechanical attachment of the connector to an external device and an annular post interposed between the collar and the nut. Upon assembly to a coaxial cable, the annular post is inserted between the foil covered insulator and the conductive shield of the cable. A resilient sealing O-ring may also be positioned between the collar and the nut at the rotatable juncture thereof to provide a water resistant seal thereat. The collar includes a cable receiving end for insertably receiving an inserted coaxial cable and, at the opposite end of the connector body, the nut includes an internally threaded end extent permitting screw threaded attachment of the body to an external device.
This type of coaxial connector further includes a locking sleeve to secure the cable within the body of the coaxial connector. The locking sleeve, which is typically formed of a resilient plastic, is securable to the connector body to secure the coaxial connector thereto. Thus, the prior art coaxial cable connector included four distinct components: a rotatable nut; a connector body; an annular post; and a locking sleeve. A coaxial cable connector of this type is shown and described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,807.
Such coaxial connectors are generally manufactured in large quantities at relatively low costs. One cost factor in manufacturing these connectors is the number of connector components that are required for assembly. Thus, eliminating just one component of the connector could significantly reduce the connector's manufacturing cost. Furthermore, fewer components could also simplify the cable installation process.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a coaxial connector having fewer components. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a coaxial connector that eliminates the need for a locking sleeve altogether. As a result, the number of components of the connector would be reduced, along with the connector's associated manufacturing costs, and the cable installation process would be simplified.